Grandpa Anakin and Grandson Ben
by Xanderlike
Summary: Different AUs where Anakin is around to be a grandfather to Ben Solo. Some serious. Some humorous. Expect lots of different characters from all three trilogies. And Ahsoka. 'Cause I like Ahsoka.
1. The Sith Knight Returns

They were gone.

Anakin Skywalker stood in the rain and watched from a distance as Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, and Han Solo were laid to rest in a triple funeral. Luke and Leia were twins, and in addition to being as close to Luke as a brother, Han had been Leia's husband. They had died together; it seemed fitting they be buried at the same time.

His children were gone.

Anakin felt the simmering rage warm his blood. Thanks to Palpatine, he had been robbed of being a part of their lives while they were young, now he was forced to do the unthinkable; bury his children. His mother Shmi. His wife Padme. His mentor/father figure/brother Obi-Wan. Everyone he loved died and he seemed destined to go on.

Cecil Threepio, Leia's butler, had been with the family since Padme's time as had the family chauffeur Art Deeto. They flanked the only mourner who had not left the graves: Ben Skywalker Solo.

Anakin's grandson.

He was fourteen years old.

"Anakin ..."

"Ahsoka." He tore his gaze from the tragic scene before him to glance at the slender woman who had joined him. "Excuse me … Police Commissioner Tano."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Anakin." Ahsoka sighed. A long time ago, she had been his partner. His apprentice, in a fashion … but that had been another life.

"It wasn't an accident."

"You don't know that."

"I know it. Luke was looking into the First Order. He told me that Brendol Hux wasn't the power behind the throne. He was close to proving that Mayor Snoke ..."

"Stop right there, Anakin," Ahsoka whispered. "You can't make accusations like that."

"You think I fear being sued for slander?" Anakin growled.

"It's not lawyers you have to fear." She glanced towards the sobbing boy. "You still have someone to lose."

"The boy."

"Your grandson."

"I don't know him," Anakin said regretfully. "Leia never really forgave me for what happened to her adoptive parents. She never let me meet the boy."

"He's your family. And he needs you." Ahsoka touched his cheek. "And if you go after Snoke he'll make sure the boy pays for it."

Anakin said nothing for a moment.

"Anakin … he's alone."

"He's not alone." He walked forward purposely … a tall blond man in black with a scarred visage.

"Master Anakin," Threepio stuttered.

Art Deeto was a little person, and mute, but there was nothing small about his heart. He stepped between the boy and his grandfather and whistled angrily … the only means of communication a childhood injury had left him.

Anakin looked down at the little man. Once upon a time, Art Deeto had been one of his closest friends. One of the few who- along with Threepio- knew his secrets. "I won't hurt the boy."

Ben Solo's dark eyes flared. "The boy has a name and can take care of himself."

"So much anger," Anakin observed. "Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

"That's already happened." Ben stared at the gravestones of his family. "They tried to make the city a better place. Uncle Luke and Dad arrested the bad people and brought them to justice. Mom prosecuted them. Now they're gone, and the First Order is still here." Ben clenched his fist. "But I'm going to finish what they started. I'll bring a new order to the city..."

"Maybe when you grow up, kid." Anakin offered his hand. "My name is Anakin Skywalker. I'm your grandfather. You'll be staying with me."

"My godfather Chewbacca Wookie is still alive. He said he'd come from me as soon as the hospital released him."

"Great. In the meantime you're coming with me."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Ben demanded.

Anakin glared at Threepio.

"Master Ben, I know that Master Anakin can be … brusque, but I assure you he has your best interests at heart. Art and I will be happy to stay with you while you're visiting your grandfather."

Ahsoka walked up to them. "Ben … you know that your parents and uncle were some of my closest friends. I care about you. I wouldn't leave you anywhere that's not safe." Ahsoka laid her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Anakin cares about you. He's just kriff at showing it."

Anakin shrugged as he felt the boy's eyes on his face again. Their color reminded him of Padme, bu the pain he saw in them was all him. "I'm sorry about what's happened, Ben. I can't bring your parents back, but we _are_ family and I'll take care of you."

Reluctantly, the boy took his hand.

..**..

Threepio had his faults, but it couldn't be denied that he was a first class cook. Even so, Ben picked at his food. "Your home is a kriffing castle, Grandfather."

"It is is extravagant." Anakin sipped a glass of wine. He was tempted to down the bottle- more than one bottle- but he couldn't crawl into a bottle when his grandson needed him. "It belonged to your grandmother. She never really liked it- it was a bleak place to her- but when she … died … it was the place that I chose to make home."

He had no choice. Everywhere else reminded him of Padme- but this bleak structure- this castle from the Gilded Age- did not burn with memories of Padme. It was here that he created the persona of Darth Vader.

"Mom never talked about her- your wife, I mean. She had plenty of stories about Grandmother Breha and Grandfather Bail, but she never told me about you- or her. I don't even know her name."

"Padme." There had been a time when he could not even say her name without pain. Luke had helped him with that. Luke had pulled him step by step from the darkness that had nearly destroyed Anakin Skywalker. "Her name was Padme Naberrie Amidala."

"That name sounds familiar."

"She was a Senator. If she had lived, she might have gone onto even greater things. To me, though, she was practically a Queen." Anakin closed his eyes. "She died when Leia and Luke were born. Leia was adopted by the Organas. Luke was raised by my stepbrother and his wife." _I'm sorry that I never thanked you, Owen, Beru. _

"Why didn't you raise them?"

Anakin sighed. _ This _was the complicated part. "I was in no condition to take care of anyone, let alone newborn children. I was in an accident. Ben Kenobi, my closest friend, thought I was dead and made arrangements to keep my children safe."

Ben stared at him. "Why didn't you come and get them when you got better?"

Anakin sighed. The boy was extremely intelligent as well as talented- Anakin could feel the Force surging through Ben's veins- he was his mother's son for sure. He saw things that Anakin wished to keep hidden from him. "By the time I was in any shape to be a father, it was too late. Your mother and uncle were grown."

"But they were your children! How could you just abandon them?" There was an echo of pain in Ben's voice- and Anakin remembered Luke telling him that Leia had sent her son to him in hopes that he could help the boy master his powers. It had been for Ben's good, but Anakin could easily see how his grandson had felt abandoned.

"I thought they had died with their mother. I didn't even know I had living children until I ran into Luke."

"How did you meet him?"

Anakin sighed. He wasn't ready- the boy wasn't ready- to hear _that _story yet. "It's a long story, Ben."

"Luke said you were Jedi Knight before him."

Anakin closed his eyes. "Yes. I was one of them. My friend Ben Kenobi trained me just as he trained your uncle."

"He was training me. He said I would be the next Jedi Knight. He was even going to allow me to join him as Padawan." Ben looked down at his plate. "Republic City needs a Jedi Knight. Will you take the role over now?"

Anakin frowned. His memories of his time as Jedi Knight were not pleasant. "No. That time in my life is done."

"Will you teach me?" Ben still refused to meet his eyes.

"I am not sure that I would be a good teacher for you, Ben. I might teach you the wrong lessons." He did not want the boy's pain to send him hurling headlong into vengeance. He did not want Ben to follow in his footsteps. "But I will speak to Ahsoka. She might be able to train you."

At that, Ben looked up. "What is it between the two of you?"

Anakin stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean?"

"The way you look at each other. It reminds me of how Mom and Dad looked at each other."

'

Anakin coughed. "Ahsoka was my Padawan. She was younger than you are now when she took that role. She's been like a sister to me …."

Ben stared at him skeptically. "Right ..."

"There is nothing between Ahsoka and me," Anakin said … perhaps too quickly, he realized. "There are many reasons for that. You'll just have to take my word about that, Ben." He paused. "And please don't bring up this ridiculous idea to Ahsoka. You'll only embarrass her."

"Embarrass Ahsoka Tano? Are we even talking about the same person?"

"Enough, Ben." He gave the boy the same look he had given some more than one of Palpatine's minions when he worked as the so-called Emperor of Evil's Enforcer.

Ben Solo did not seem impressed. "Fine." He paused. "Hux has to pay for what he did."

"He will. Ahsoka will see to it." And if she couldn't- if the law failed- then Anakin would see to it himself.

"It should be me," Ben murmured softly. "They were _my _family."

"Ahsoka loved them too- have faith, Ben."

Ben stared at him moodily. "I'm done eating. Good night, Grandfather."

Anakin sighed. He could feel the conflict in the boy- the war between justice and vengeance in his soul. "Good night, Ben."

...**...

_Father!_

Anakin opened his eyes. "_Luke!"_

Luke Skywalker. His son. He stood before Anakin not in the policeman's uniform he had been buried in, but rather the uniform of the Jedi Knight. _Father, Ben needs you!_

"Luke." Anakin fought back tears. He had never dreamed that his son would become one with the Force before him- and even through the pain of his loss, he felt there was pride that his son possessed the power to speak across the void between the living and the dead. "He's here with me. I promise you I'll keep him safe from Snoke and Hux-"

_He's gone, Father! He took my light saber and he's gone after Hux himself! He means to kill him!_

"No!" Anakin bolted upright, fully awake.

_He can't do that, Father. If he takes a life out of violence and vengeance- in hatred rather than necessity-_

"He'll become like me. He'll become another Darth Vader."

_You have to find him, Father. You have to save him._

Anakin looked at the specter of his son. "I'll find him, Luke. I'll save him. I give you my word. And Luke?"

_Yes, Father?_

"I loved you, you know. You and your sister both. This time- this time I won't fail my family."

_We love you too, Father. _A faint smile touched Luke's face. _Even Leia._

And then his son faded away.

Anakin walked out of his bedroom. "Threepio! Art!"

Threepio was dressed in a golden bathrobe and was shuffling towards him. The older man's knees had been bad for decades, and that was as fast as Anakin had ever seen him move. "Master Anakin! Master Ben is gone! We can't find him anywhere!"

Art Detoo ran forward, gesturing with his hands and whistling angrily.

Anakin gaped, not entirely sure he had read Art's signs correctly. "He took my motorcycle?!"

The little man nodded again.

"Kriff!" Anakin walked towards a wall and pressed a hidden switch. "I've got to go after him. Call Ahsoka. Tell her what happened."

"Master Anakin, how will you find him? Ben could be anywhere! Oh dear. Oh dear."

Anakin smiled grimly. "Anakin Skywalker won't find him." He walked into the hidden room and picked up the helmet he had sworn to never wear again. "Darth Vader will."

..**..

Ben Solo had never felt so alive.

It had not taken him long to find Brendol Hux. He had listened to the whispers of the Force- a ghostly Voice that Luke had always told him to ignore- he had listened and the voice had brought him to Hux.

It had been so easy to fight his way through Hux's Enforcers. He had cut their guns in half with his uncle's light saber. He had pushed them aside with a gesture, sent them tumbling into unconsciousness with another. He had fought his way through the warehouse that served as Hux's base of operations and now he was face to face with the man who had murdered his parents, his uncle … who had stolen everything from him.

The last of his defenders had fallen- a tall young woman in body armor that had deflected his light saber but had not been immune to Ben's mental powers and a boy barely older than Ben himself- a redhead who was fighting fiercely against the Force gesture that held him pinned to the wall.

"Father!" The redhead screamed. "Stay away from my father!"

Hux himself was cowering in a corner.

"Stay from my father! I'll kill you if you hurt him! Do you hear me, I'll kill you!"

Ben had not worn the Padawan uniform his uncle had given him. He wore a black uniform of his own design, a black and silver helmet hiding his facial features and disguising his voice. "Be silent, boy. I'll deal with you later."

_Yes, _the Voice whispered to him. _Kill Hux. Kill the woman. Kill Hux's son. Make Hux suffer for what he had one to Ben- what he had __**dared **__to Ben's family._

"Don't hurt me!" Hux whimpered. "I'll turn myself in! I'll tell the police everything I know! I'll give you money- women- _anything_\- if you just let me live!"

"Anything?" Ben held the light saber under Hux's throat.

"_Anything!"_

"I want my parents back."

"What?"

"My parents. You killed them. You want to live, bring them back to life."

Hux stared at him as though he had gone insane.

"You can't? A pity- for you." He drew Luke's saber back to strike-

And a tall black figure armed with a red light saber crashed through the window and pushed him back with a Force gesture.

Ben gritted his teeth, and freed himself of the dark lord's control. "Who the kriff are you?"

The tall man in black raised his light saber up. "I am Darth Vader."

"Darth Vader is dead!" Ben Solo screamed. "My uncle killed him!"

"That's what Luke wanted the world to think." Vader gestured and Hux slumped to the ground unconscious. "There's a voice in your head, isn't there?"

Ben stared at him. "Is it you? Are you the one who's been telling me what to do?"

The black helmet shook fiercely. "No. I would never set you on this path. There is another- someone who wants you to join the Darkside."

"Why would you want to prevent that? You are a master of the Darkside!"

"You do not master the Darkside. It masters you. It promises you power- but it's a trap, boy. It takes everything you are, everything you ever loved- and it leaves you with nothing but ashes."

"He killed my parents! He killed Luke!"

"He may have done that- but only because his master ordered him to."

"His master?"

"The same one who's urging you to murder him. The voice in your head is the voice of the man murdered your family."

Ben stared at him. "No ..."

"I didn't know he was there at first. Not even Luke knew he was there. He was good at hiding in the recesses of your mind- but he's practically screaming now, isn't he? I can hear him at last." The lenses of Darth Vader's helmet seemed to momentarily shimmer with a blood red hue. "He's going to regret that."

"He wants me to kill you."

Darth Vader nodded. "He does. Someday- someday you might even be strong enough to do that. But not right now. His only hope is that I'll let you kill me rather than hurt you myself."

Ben stared at him. "Move. I don't care about you. I just want to make Hux pay."

"I told you-"

"Fine. If the Voice in my head ordered him to kill my parents, I'll kill him- it- too. But first … first Hux dies."

"Why?"

"Why?" Ben blinked at him. The Voice was screaming at him now- _Kill Hux! Kill Vader!_

"Why listen to someone who killed your parents?"

Ben stared at him. "Why-"

"He wants you to kill Hux, boy. He wants you to kill me. If you give in to that urge- to kill someone who hurt you- to kill at the order of another- then you set your foot on a path that will lead to your own destruction. He thinks he can enslave you. He's trying to make you his puppet. His _slave._"

"My parents-"

"Would they want you to murder someone in their names? Would your uncle?"

Ben paused. "Why would you care?"

Darth Vader hesitated. "I made the wrong choice in a situation like this. I didn't know it then, but it was the first step to becoming what I hated. I spent almost half my life paying for that decision- it cost me the woman I loved, the family I had dreamed of- I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. Especially not you."

Ben looked at him.

Darth Vader gestured, and Armitage Hux slumped against the wall, just as unconscious as his father. "Because of who you are. Because of who I am. Ben Solo, I am your grandfather."

"No," Ben whispered. "That's impossible."

Darth Vader removed his helmet, revealing the pale face of Anakin Skywalker. "I let fear and hatred make me into a monster, Ben. Don't follow my path. Choose a better one."

Ben deactivated his light saber.

_Fool! _The voice screamed at him. _You're nothing! You're nothing, boy!_

Ben fell to his knees as the Voice screamed into his soul, tearing into his mind as though it meant to destroy him utterly.

And then he felt his grandfather take his hand. "Let me help you, Ben."

He opened his mental barriers and reached out to his grandfather. "Help me please ..."

The Voice shrieked as Anakin Skywalker joined his will to his grandson's. "You son of a bantha, you're not facing an untrained boy now. Whoever you are, you are no Sheev Palpatine- my will, _our_ will, is stronger- you're going to leave. But before you go, you will tell us your name!"

The Voice hissed and spat like a wildcat, but Anakin joined his experience with his grandson's power, shaping their will into a command that could not be denied: "_Tell us your name!"_

_S-snoke!_

"You have no place here, Snoke. Go- and trouble my grandson's mind no more!"

The Voice shrieked like the damned- and fled.

"It's over, Ben." Anakin helped the boy to his feet. "He can't do that to you again. Once we forced him to give us his name, he had no power over you."

"Snoke … _Mayor _Snoke?"

"Yes."

"We have to stop him, Grandfather."

"Why?"

"We can't let him go on hurting people like he did me. He has to be stopped."

"You no longer want vengeance?" Anakin's face was as impassive as stone.

"Maybe a little?" Ben looked up at him. "Is that bad?"

Anakin smiled. "It's human, Ben. And understandable." He looked at the unconscious Huxes, and the fallen girl. "We'll call Ahsoka. There should be enough evidence here to send Hux away for a long time- and maybe even implicate Snoke."

"And if there isn't?"

Anakin sighed. "If there isn't, then I'll stop him another way."

"As the Jedi Knight?"

"No." Anakin shook his head. "I'm not Jedi Knight any longer. It will have to be as Darth Vader."

"And I'll help you."

Anakin stared at him in amusement. "As Padawan?"

Ben sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't think I can be Padawan- or Jedi Knight now. There's too much anger in me. Too much hate. I won't let it win- but I can't move past it- not like Luke did. I'll have to find my own answer- and my own name."

"I'll help you with that."

"I was counting on it."

..**..

For decades, Republic City had been protected by the Jedi Knights … heroic men and women who served the cause of justice and light.

With the passing of Luke Skywalker, Republic City found itself no longer protected by the Jedi … but as time went on, the people would discover they had _new_ defenders.

A Sith Lord turned guardian. A young Dark Knight ever at his side.

Darth Vader and his partner Kylo Ren.

Sometimes dark is not evil.

Sometimes … sometimes the good guys wear black.

And carry red light sabers.


	2. Starblood

Anakin Skywalker jogged into the diner and collapsed in the booth across from Ahsoka Tano, his former Padawan. "You're an evil, evil woman."

Ahsoka smiled. "You ought to know." She was in her human form, her white hair and bronzed skin contrasting with her bright blue eyes. "For a guy with new arms and legs, you move pretty slow … old man."

Anakin waved his arm and called for a glass of water. "It's only been a year." He breathed in and out again. "You don't know how good it is to breathe on your own until you can't."_ Thank you, Luke. If you hadn't convinced the Minoans to regenerate my body I'd still be trapped in that kriffing life suit I wore as Darth Vader. _

Ahsoka reached over and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Anakin."

Her hand felt good … maybe too good. He'd spent half his life as a monster, more machine than man. Luke had redeemed him … saved his soul from the Darkside … (from Palpatine which was pretty much the same thing) … but even though he'd thrown the so-called Emperor to his death Anakin wasn't sure that he had _deserved _redemption. Or Ahsoka's forgiveness. _I almost killed you Ahsoka … how can you forgive that? How do __**I **__forgive myself?_

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Anakin smiled thankfully as the waitress handed him his water.

The waitress smiled. "Just let me know when you're ready to order. Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all. My name's Kitty."

"Thank you, Kitty." Anakin smiled at the waitress and turned his attention back to Ahsoka after she left. "Doing what?"

"Being broody." The smile momentarily dropped from Ahsoka's face. "Though I think Miss Kitty there would like to make you feel better."

Anakin blinked. "That's ridiculous. I'm old enough to be her father."

"Maybe she wants to call you daddy." Ahsoka definitely sounded annoyed.

Anakin blushed. "Oh for kriff's sake. She's almost as young as you were when we met." He had never looked at another woman while he was married to Padme, and after her death grief and the injuries he had suffered on Mustafar had killed his libido.

Ahsoka frowned and let go of his hand. "Are you implying that I'm not young now?"

Anakin looked at her as though for seeing her the first time. "You're in the prime of your life." Anakin's gaze flickered across the diner. "Half the guys in this place would be asking for your number if you were alone."

"Good thing I'm not alone then."

They stared into each other's eyes.

And the thought that came to him was … _When did Ahsoka become such a beautiful woman?_

And then Anakin's phone rang.

"Great timing," Ahsoka said with a smirk.

Anakin was still getting used to having a cell phone. He fumbled the thing open. "The only two people who have this number are you and Luke."

It wasn't Luke's number. It was one that he didn't recognize. "Must be a wrong number." He put the phone to his ear in annoyance. "Hello?"

"Do you have him?"

"Do I have who?" The voice was familiar. Angry, but familiar. Perhaps the anger made it familiar. "_Leia?" _In the five years that he was imprisoned after Endor, Leia had never visited him or acknowledged him as her father … even though that meant she had to deny Luke as her brother as well. In the two years he had been under the medical care of the Kaminoans she had never once so much as inquired about whether or not he was alive or dead. In the year that he had been given something not unlike freedom- as long as he remained under guard by either Ahsoka or Luke- there had never been any sign that she had any plans to speak to him ever again.

Leia ignored his surprise. "Do you have Ben?"

"Ben?" Anakin blinked in confusion. "Do you mean Obi-Wan?" That made no sense. She knew that Obi-Wan was dead … _That you killed him, Anakin … the man who was father, brother, teacher and best friend all in one to you …_

"_Ben. _My _son _Ben."

"You have a son?" The surprise was painful. He was a grandfather … and no one had ever told him. He looked over at Ahsoka.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "I would have told you, but Leia made me promise ..."

"I understand." He turned back to his phone. "Leia, I don't have your son. I didn't even know you had a son until you just told me." He paused. "How old is he?"

"His eighth birthday is coming up." He could hear pain in Leia's voice … and even though she had never acknowledged him as her father, he still felt a father's desire to protect her. "He's gone. I don't know who has him. I don't know where my son is ..."

"Leia, what happened? What do you know?"

"I don't know where my son is," she repeated brokenly.

"Leia." Anakin forced himself to be stern. "You are Ben's mother. You're Force sensitive. If he had … if he were …" He could barely bring himself to speak of it. "He has not become one with the Force. You would know it if he had."

Ahsoka joined Anakin on his side of the booth. She placed her head against his so she could hear Leia as well. "Leia, what happened? Where was Ben last?"

"He was with my friend Amilyn. She was taking him to see a doctor." Leia paused. "He's been hearing voices. Or a voice. I thought it might be _you_, Vader."

"That's not my name. Not anymore. And no, I haven't been trying to reach Ben. I didn't even know he existed." _I wish that I had known though … _"You said he was hearing voices." He paused. "There are reasons other than the Force for that to happen."

"Not my son. Not my Ben." Leia paused. "But we were taking him to the doctor to make sure. Han didn't approve, so I asked Amilyn to do it for me."

"Of course you did," Ahsoka murmured.

Anakin glanced curiously at his former Padawan. Did she know something he didn't? "Leia … there had to be a reason you called to ask if I had Ben." _Ben._ He was glad they had chosen to name him "Ben" instead of "Obi-Wan." That would have been an even harder burden to bear. "Beyond your natural cynicism."

"He was near your present location when he disappeared."

"How do you know where I am?" Anakin wondered … before turning to look at Ahsoka once more.

His former Padawan blushed. "Luke and I are required to wear homing beacons when we go on these … excursions. The homing beacon signal would be readily available to Leia as a member of the Council."

There had been a time when such things would have infuriated Anakin, but he had spent half his life regretting one rash decision so he forced down his instinctive anger. "I see."

Ahsoka looked away. She mouthed the words "I'm sorry" but he simply waved his hand to indicate it didn't matter, so she placed her mouth near the phone again. "Leia, exactly what happened? What did Amilyn tell you?"

"She took Ben to Doctor Snoke's office-"

"Snoke?"

"He's a Starblood doctor. One of the most ancient and wisest of our people."

_I may have been born an Earthblood, but I suspect I know things even you do not about the Starblood, daughter. _"I know who he is. He knew Palpatine."

He could practically _hear_ Leia frown. "I … did not know that."

"Snoke has been very good at flying below the radar. What did he tell- Amilyn was it?-about Ben?" He wondered briefly what the boy looked like … what were his interests … at Ben's age he had been working as a slave for Watto and building the racing pod that would ultimately free him. _At least Ben never had to suffer the indignity of being called someone's property … _

For all their talk of being more advanced and civilized than the Earthbloods they had found themselves among, the Starblood descendants had no problem with keeping slaves well into the 20th Century. Of course, they justified it to themselves by only keeping _humans- _Earthblood humans as slaves …

Like Anakin's mother …

"He said there was nothing wrong with Ben," Leia said, breaking his reverie. "That he was simply developing his Force Sensitivity much faster than we anticipated."

"Ben is strong with the Force?" _Of course he is. He has the Skywalker blood …_

"Yes. Luke says that Ben has an even greater potential than he does." Leia closed her eyes. "The Council wants Ben to be among the first of the new Jedi."

Of course they did. It didn't matter what Ben would want for himself- the Jedi had always protected the Starblood, and now that they were gone- _Now that you killed them all, you mean_\- the Council would be desperate to replace them.

"They might regret that," Ahsoka said with a wry chuckle. "Skywalkers aren't great at listening to the Council, and Luke is his father's son."

"No," Anakin contradicted. "He's his mother's."

And it was true. Luke had inherited his father's power, his father's eyes and hair, but his soul, his heart … were all Padme's.

Thank the Maker for that.

"Snoke said he would like to see Ben on a regular basis. To help train him to use his gifts." Leia closed her eyes and shuddered. "He _knew _Palpatine. He … he's not a good man, is he?"

Anakin strove to become calm, to center himself in the Light, as Obi-Wan had tried so hard to teach him. "No. He's not."

"He's a monster. I sent my son to a monster ..." Leia took a shuddering breath. "Amilyn says that Ben was with her when they left. She took him back to her car and sat down … and the next thing she knew he was gone, and half an hour had passed. She doesn't know what happened."

"Where is she now?" Ahsoka asked.

"She's still there. She went back to the office but Snoke swore that Ben had not returned. I had no reason to doubt him so that's why I called you."

"And Snoke let her go?" Anakin murmured. "Interesting."

"I knew Amilyn took him there. There's no way that he could have done anything to her without arousing my suspicions." Leia frowned. "I'm in Washington. I'll see if I can get a hold of Han and have him fly us there-"

"Do that. A boy should have his parents with him. Tell Amilyn to remain where she is and not to contact Snoke again. Ahsoka and I are on our way to her."

Leia hesitated. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"You brought me into this. Ben is my grandson." He wasn't a good man- maybe he had never been one- but Anakin Skywalker had always looked out for his own. It didn't matter that he didn't know the boy- he was going to find him.

"Don't worry, Leia. I'll handle him." Ahsoka smirked over at Anakin.

_Is that flirting? _He wondered briefly. _Ahsoka wouldn't be flirting with me, would she?_

He had been raised as a Jedi to avoid emotional attachment … but he had loved Padme with a childish infatuation before he became a Jedi. As the Hero Without Fear, he had been too busy with war- and with his marriage- to notice if women found him attractive. As Darth Vader, he had never been offered the temptations of the flesh a man of his power might have otherwise experienced- physical desire had been burnt away along with Anakin's humanity in the fires of Mustafar-

But the Kaminoans had regenerated his limbs, his flesh, his lungs … his scars were not gone, but they were very faint now. He was not a young man, but compared to his torturous existence as Darth Vader he felt almost youthful. He almost felt like a teenager again.

_That has to be it, _Anakin told himself. _Ahsoka is just being herself. I'm overreacting. _

"Come on, Anakin." Ahsoka tossed some money on the table. "Let's go."

Ahsoka took his hand as they left. _I'm definitely overreacting, _Anakin told himself as he blushed. _Definitely._

But there was a smirk on Ahsoka's face as she waved at the waitress …

..**..

Amilyn Holdo was obviously a brave young woman.

She was standing beside her car when they drove up. She was slender, with brightly colored green hair. She clearly knew Ahsoka- she waved at Anakin's old Padawan when she saw her. And she looked Anakin straight in the eye and said, "Lord Vader."

"Not anymore. Call me Anakin." Outside of Ahsoka, Luke, and Leia, the only ones who knew that the former Darth Vader was still alive was the Council and their need to know operatives. Anakin wasn't entirely certain that Leia's husband Han Solo knew he was still alive.

"Leia told me," Amilyn told him with a soft smile. (The smile was for his daughter and not him, Anakin was certain.) "She told me everything."

"I see."

"Leia told us what happened," Ahsoka told Amilyn in a rush to change the subject or avoid embarrassing questions. "I think someone might have used the Jedi Mind trick to make you forget what happened."

"Can you help me remember?" Amilyn looked down. "I'm responsible. Leia trusted me with Ben's safety, and I let her down."

"I can't," Ahsoka said sympathetically.

"I can."

Both of the women looked at him.

"It's a Sith technique. I can enter your mind … read your thoughts and memories … even the ones that you don't remember yourself."

"Will it hurt?"

"Only if you try to fight it." Anakin knew that this was something that needed to be done if they were going to find Ben. He hoped the woman would agree to it; he didn't want to have to have to force the issue.

"I thought you were free of the Darkside," Ahsoka said softly. There was a look of disappointment in her eyes.

"I still remember what I had learned as Darth Vader. I know what to do. It will help us find Ben."

"At what cost, Anakin?" Ahsoka looked at him.

"It's my choice, Ahsoka." Anakin could not meet her eyes.

"And mine." Amilyn bit her lip. "If you learn anything other than what happened to Ben ..."

"I'll keep it secret," Anakin promised. He already suspected what Amilyn was afraid that he would learn. He would not judge her … or Leia if it came to that. "And I'll focus on Ben."

"All right. I'll do it."

"We'll get in the car. No sense in creating a spectacle. Ahsoka, remain on guard in case someone tries to interfere."

"You're not the boss of me, Anakin," Ahsoka retorted, but she remained outside the car while Anakin and the girl got in. She slipped her hand into her jacket, reaching for the light saber she no doubt carried. "Make it quick."

Anakin touched Amilyn's face. "Just relax. Think about Ben."

Amilyn closed her eyes.

The first thing Anakin encountered was Amilyn's thoughts of Leia … her _love _of Leia. It infused her every thought … and tinged with that love was the sadness of watching Leia be with Han Solo … beyond that, though … beyond Amilyn's affection for Leia … beyond that, he found Ben Solo.

Anakin's grandson.

At first glance, the boy's hair and eyes reminded him of Padme or Leia … his face seemed to echo his father's …

But the expression in those eyes … the pain ….

Anakin saw that every time he looked in the mirror.

_I'm so sorry, boy. You don't deserve to be trapped by my legacy …_

_The scene shifted to Amilyn leaving Snoke's building holding Ben's hand. "Benny … are you okay, sweetheart?" For all her affection for his daughter, Anakin was relieved to sense honest affection and worry for Ben in Amilyn's memories as well._

_ "I have to go back," Ben had said in a voice way too serious for such a young child. "He's got her. He's hurting her. He's hurting Rey." _

_ "Rey? Who's Rey? Is that your imaginary friend?"_

_ "She's real!" Ben insisted. "She's real! And the Bad Doctor has her! He took her from the Junk Man! She's Earthblood like my grandfather was. He's trying to figure out why she has the Force!"_

_ "Ben, honey … how do you know this?" Amilyn asked._

_ "Rey talks to me. And I saw it in his mind. I have to go back and save her!" _

_ "Ben, we'll call your mother ..."_

_ "No! Rey needs me now!" Ben held up his hand. "You won't try to stop me. You won't remember when I left or that we talked about this."_

_ Amilyn dutifully repeated his words._

_ Ben Solo got out of the car, stood up straight and headed back to face a monster … all four feet two inches of him …_

Anakin and Amilyn opened their eyes.

"Maker," Amilyn whispered. "I went back to Snoke's, and Ben wasn't there. He could have been _screaming_ for help in the next room and I didn't know … I left him behind … Oh, Maker! I left him!"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Anakin told her with unaccustomed gentleness. "It's not your fault. Wait here. Call Leia. Ahsoka and I will go get Ben."

"I should go with you-"

"No. Stay here. Don't make me force the issue, Amilyn. Leia will need you if … well, Leia may need you."

"It's all right, Amilyn," Ahsoka added gently. "Do what Anakin says. We'll take it from here."

"Okay. Godspeed, Jedi."

Ahsoka smiled wistfully. "I don't think either of us qualify for that term now, but thank you." She reached into her jacket and handed Anakin something. "Take this."

Anakin looked at the weapon. "A light saber."

"You may need it." She refused to look at him. "It's yours. The one that you used on the Second Deathstar. Luke took it with him when he carried you to safety."

Anakin nodded. He had murdered so many with this weapon … innocents or guilty, anyone who stood in his way had paid the price. _And Luke wonders why I have such difficulty accepting redemption …_

"Luke wanted me to take a look at it. He knows that I was able to heal kyber crystals before. He hoped that I might be able to help you … but I have a feeling we'll need you armed now."

"We may not have to fight," Anakin said with more hope than expectation. "Snoke may not want to challenge us. We can try diplomacy."

Ahsoka smirked. "Us?"

"You have a point," Anakin admitted. "But we'll try it anyway."

Snoke's office was in a nondescript building dubbed First Order International. Instead of the expected blue or gray, the security guards wore blood red shirts. There was a metal detector at the front door.

"You can't bring those in here," the guard announced. His badge was inscribed with the legend "Praetorian Security."

"You see nothing unusual," Ahsoka said with a wave of her hand.

"I see nothing unusual," the Guard murmured.

"Move along."

"Move along."

"Obi-Wan would have loved that," Anakin told her with a smile as they moved past the guards.

"Yes," Ahsoka said with a sad smile. "If only he were still with us."

Anakin winced.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, reaching over to squeeze his hand once more.

"So am I." Anakin looked straight ahead. "I'm sorry for all the evil that I've done. I would give anything to change it- but I can't. All I can do is move forward and try to justify Luke's faith in me."

"I have faith in you too, Skyguy."

Anakin smiled. "Thanks, Snips."

They rode the elevator to the top of the building … because of course Snoke had his office at the top of the building.

They entered the office. A graying red-haired man was sitting at the receptionist desk. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Snoke is not seeing anyone at the moment. I can make you an appointment for another time."

Anakin frowned in recognition. He knew this man. "I'm afraid the doctor will have to make an exception, Brendol Hux." He gestured at the door and locked it behind them.

"I'm afraid I don't know you, sir," Brendol reached under his desk.

"Press that button and you'll lose that hand," Ahsoka warned him. She drew one of her white light sabers.

"You _do_ know me, General Hux. Yes, I know you were part of Palpatine's Empire." Anakin allowed himself a smile … it was not a particularly pleasant smile. "Perhaps this will help you recognize me better." He activated his light saber.

At the sight of the red blade, Hux's face went white. "V-vader … we thought you were dead."

"Yes. I know." Anakin waved the blade under Hux's face. "The boy Snoke saw today. Ben Solo. He came back. Where is he?"

"Doctor Snoke took him into his private quarters."

Anakin scowled, not liking the implications. "Take us to him."

"I can't! He'll kill me if I do!"

Anakin extended his hand and Force choked the former Imperial General. "And what makes you think I'll let you live if you don't?"

"General … Hux is it?" Ahsoka whispered softly. "The boy … Ben Solo. He's Lord Vader's"- she said the name without flinching- "grandson."

If possible, Hux went even whiter. With a whimper, he pointed at a section of the wall. "Secret passage. Pull the lamp."

"Thank you, General." Anakin gestured again and Hux fell unconscious.

"I think I should slip into something a little more appropriate for this." Ahsoka closed her eyes, when she opened them she was back in her Togruta form. "I'm a bit more agile this way."

Anakin smiled. "It's good to see the real you again, Snips."

"Oh, Skyguy. You say the sweetest things." She activated both of her light sabers. "Let's go save your grandson."

Anakin glanced at the red light saber in his hand. Was using this the wrong thing … no, it was a tool. No matter what he had done to make it, the light saber was not evil … he could save lives with it as easily as take them. It was up to him. "Let's go."

The passage wasn't long. It led to a large room that must have taken up most of this floor.

Anakin snorted. "A throne room. He gave himself a kriffing throne room!"

"And a throne," Ahsoka pointed out.

Doctor Snoke was wearing a golden gown and sandals. He was sitting on that throne. Beside him were two children … one was Ben Solo … the other was a girl.

She was barely more than a toddler. Her hair had been done up in a strange three bunned style, and her clothing reminded Anakin of what he had worn in the deserts of Tatooine. She was looking at the floor.

Ben Solo stood protectively at the girl's side, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. He looked at them in shock … and hope. "Auntie 'Soka!"

Ahsoka smiled at him. "Hello, Ben."

Snoke pressed a button on his throne, and a dozen men in red robes joined them, welding various types of weapons with glowing edges. "I don't know who you are, but the children are mine. They will be the first of my Knights of Ren." He was tall … taller than Anakin was now, taller than he had been as Darth Vader. "Kneel and I might let you live."

"I'm afraid that I don't kneel any more, Doctor Snoke. Ben," Anakin said, speaking to his grandson for the first time. "We're going to get you out of this." He stared at the girl's frightened face. "And you too, young Rey."

"Kill them!" Snoke roared at his guards.

Ahsoka took her place at Anakin's back. "Try to keep up, old man."

"I'll do my best," Anakin told her with a smile.

And then Snoke's Praetorian Guards were upon them.

..**..

Snoke fled as the last of his Guards fell.

"We should go after him," Ahsoka panted, deactivating her blades and putting them on her belt.

"The kids are too important. We need to get them out of here before anything else happens." Anakin felt a surge of anger that his introduction to his grandson involved killing, but there was no help to it.

Ahsoka knelt and gave Ben a quick hug before picking up the girl. "It's okay, youngling. You're safe now. You're safe now."

Anakin turned off his own weapon and attached it to his belt. He knelt down to look the boy in the eyes. "Hello, Ben. My name is Anakin Skywalker."

"Skywalker?" Ben blinked. Anakin knew that he was tall and that young Ben had every reason to be afraid of him after seeing what Anakin could do, but there was no fear in the boy's eyes. "My uncle is named Luke Skywalker. Are you my uncle too?"

"No," Anakin told the boy with a smile. "I'm your grandfather."

"Mother said my grandfather was dead."

"She was probably thinking of Bail Organa. He and his wife adopted your mother was she was a newborn. He's the one who raised her." Even now, Anakin sometimes felt a white hot surge of anger as he thought of his stolen children, but he knew that Palpatine never would have allowed him to raise his children to adulthood if he had known they existed. Obi-Wan had done the right thing … much as it pained him to admit it. "But I'm your grandfather, too."

Ben Solo blinked as he took this news in. "Okay. Can we go? Rey needs help. She's been here too long."

"I think we should all get out of here, Ben." Anakin stood up and offered the boy his hand.

After a moment, Ben took it.

_I'll do whatever I can to make sure your childhood is better than mine, Ben. I don't want you following my path. _

They walked out of the building.

And waiting with Amilyn Holdo, were Ben's parents.

"Momma! Daddy!" Ben let go of Anakin's hand and raced towards them. "I have a grandpa!"

Han Solo looked at him, no doubt remembering a time when he had been tortured at the command of Darth Vader.

Leia Organa Solo looked at Anakin as well... memories of the destruction of her hometown in her eyes … and the torture she had undergone at the hands of Tarkin.

There was no forgiveness in her gaze … or Han Solo's.

But there was something else … _gratitude._

"You do, Benny. You do." Leia held her hand out to her birth father. "Thank you."

Anakin took her hand and smiled. "You're quite welcome."

It was a beginning.

_Author's Note: So the premise behind this story is that a long long time ago refugees from a galaxy far far away crash landed on Earth. With no way to return home, they blended into Terran Society as best they could. Over time, their descendants came to call themselves the "Starblood" and the native inhabitants "Earthblood." Over time, through intermarriage, many of the non-human Starblood gained the ability to take on a human appearance which allowed them to walk among Terrans with no one the wiser._

_Anakin Skywalker was born to an Earthblood mother enslaved by Starblood descendants. The fact that Anakin was Force-Sensitive without any Starblood DNA led the Jedi to believe that he was the Chosen One ...destined to bring balance between the Starblood descendants and the natives of Earth._

_ Thanks to Palpatine's lust for power, things didn't go quite the way the Jedi had thought. Much as happened in canon, Anakin turned to the Darkside, lost his wife, and became Darth Vader and was eventually redeemed by his son Luke. Unlike canon, Anakin survived the battle of Endor._

_ Like Anakin, Rey is born from Earthblood parents but is also Force-Sensitive which explains Snoke's interest in her. In this universe, Ahsoka would go on to adopt her and give Rey the family she's always wanted._

_ As for the Anakin-Ahsoka relationship … all I can say is that in the Clone Wars cartoon Anakin had way more chemistry with her than he ever did with Padme IMO. As they spent roughly 25 years apart- which puts Ahsoka at least around 40 by my reckoning- I think that a redeemed Anakin and an adult Ahsoka might have a few sparks between them. _

_ Hope you enjoyed reading this!_


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